Tag Archives: recycle

We like Dramatic Play in my childcare environment. And when you need something to fill the time, you make something the children can take home. But first, we do a ‘Test Run’. After all, it’s more fun to play with friends! Right?!

So showing you how we turned a simple color page into a way to extend our theme of Fire Safety into the Dramatic Play Center. This color page is from about 19 years back so sorry no link for making a copy.

Here is a view of supplies needed including a color page. We printed ours on cardstock for more longevity.

The color and cut stage

Connect the long tubes on each end ONLY.

Masking tape works best.

For the “People”, firefighters in this instance, use tape loops and attach to the smaller tubes.

Finally, slide the fire truck in-between the longer tubes. It should be a snug fit. Trim the ends if it’s a little long. And there you have it! Individual play sets for your theme to enhance Dramatic Play.

Skills Learned from Dramatic Play:

Learning to cooperate, to control impulses (like tearing it up by ‘crashing’, leads to less aggressive tendencies.

Eye/hand coordination, fine and gross motor skills

Developing literacy skills with use of new language, role-playing and problem solving

Learning to ask and answer questions. This introduces a larger view of the world they are living in. Some of them will relate the events of the evening news they see at home to their play. Great opportunity to ‘be there’ to discuss our times.

Talk with your caregiver about the importance of Dramatic Play.

This post is being updated and reblogged from my personal daycare blog from Oct. 17, 2015.

And they get stored in these extra large ice cream containers. When it gets about half full, I turn to ways to upcycle them.

Watching & waiting

More waiting

The hubby is pretty good at discovering bargains on ebay and found this Crayola Melt & Mold Factory at a decent price. It comes with a couple mold styles and looked like it would be a good way to occupy school-agers this summer.

Here is where I insert the facts. If you have only a few broken crayons, this is the way to go because this is how many (I’m being Very generous)you can melt in one sitting. And in one sitting I mean 45 minutes from beginning to end. I wasn’t very impressed with the results as there were air gaps in the molds in the end so you ended up with half-baked crayons. Not very sturdy for those with a firm grip.

Time to move on obviously.

My tried and true method that I have had a lot of success with are these little silicone bakers. They are great for practicing color sorting or color mixing that All ages greatly enjoy. I’m sure you can find many shapes in silicone bakeware or candy molds, but I just use the ones I already have.

My round crayons give new shape, color, and variety to the crayon bin.

Did I mention they are stackable? Quite the item to take outdoors as well. It’s pretty hard to lose these bright round disks, and even harder for them to get choked on. They make great paper weights when the wind is blowing (so you can never have too many).I have a few other ideas I’m planning with these gems for the future. I’ll have to let you know how they work out.

I probably save too much stuff. But this is one fabric I really liked and couldn’t part with. So it is about to become a useful item. A bib. Something I need a lot of in my profession. And to be perfectly up front, I’ve even had requests for adult bibs. You just never know how large you’ll need to make one 😉 But for the sake of this post, it’s for the babies.

As you can see in the beginning tutorial above, it’s pretty much a straightforward idea.

I’m a stickler for ironing

There, much better.

I just wanted to show some minor improvements you’ll want to be aware of…Ironing is the best way to get a more desirable appearance.

Also be sure to clip those curves. Home Economics class 101 lesson right here.

All you need now is to decide if you want Velcro or Snaps for your closure. I don’t recommend Buttons. It’s better for it to be able to break free from babies who are learning to pull (or throwing a tantrum). Your daily baby care dose 🙂

Change is commonly defined as “to give a completely different form or appearance to; to transform.”

For the photo challenge, I’m Changing a garment in 2 stages. For this post, I’m transforming a portion of it into something new.

The Pattern

This is a 19 X 11 triangle (you need 2)

This is where I cut my fabric from.

Sewing them right sides together, 1/4 inch seam, and leaving 2 inch space to turn right side out.

But first trim those corners.

I use a quilters pencil that has a blunt end to get my corners sharp.

After turning right sides out, iron and pin that opening for stitching so that it doesn’t slip on you.

Top stitch as you are closing that opening along the entire edge of the triangle.

This is how I chose to add ties to create my kerchief. Sew blanket stitch along entire triangle (no photos but look online for tutorials on that process) and then choose the crochet stitch of your choice.